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Jun 26, 2010
FRESH FLOODS
More to it than a clogged culvert
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YESTERDAY'S flash floods, the second in just over a week, clearly suggest that the PUB's 'clogged culvert' explanation ('Blocked drain blamed for Orchard Road flood'; June 18), does not, pardon the pun, wash.
Even if the Orchard Road deluge worsened because of a clogged culvert, how does one explain the inundation in Newton, Novena, Kampung Java and Little India?
National water agency PUB could have made its case more convincingly if it had released pictures to show how badly clogged the culvert was.
Yesterday's flash floods must spark deeper investigation into these embarrassing shortcomings in our drainage system.
After all, nobody should claim to have been caught off guard this time.
As the latest bout of flooding resulted in injury, the Government should convene an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of both floods. Such a commission would be able to look into other possible causes of the disasters, compensation amounts and rectification measures.
Among the other possible causes, it might want to look at whether the system of managing flood waters was in order.
It also seems that the two floods occurred after relatively brief periods of rainfall. Drains should have been able to cope with that.
This pattern is very different from floods that occurred five to six years ago when it took many hours of rain before inundation occurred.
The bottom line is that Singaporeans deserve a credible explanation.
Lee Yew Moon
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FRESH FLOODS
More to it than a clogged culvert
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
YESTERDAY'S flash floods, the second in just over a week, clearly suggest that the PUB's 'clogged culvert' explanation ('Blocked drain blamed for Orchard Road flood'; June 18), does not, pardon the pun, wash.
Even if the Orchard Road deluge worsened because of a clogged culvert, how does one explain the inundation in Newton, Novena, Kampung Java and Little India?
National water agency PUB could have made its case more convincingly if it had released pictures to show how badly clogged the culvert was.
Yesterday's flash floods must spark deeper investigation into these embarrassing shortcomings in our drainage system.
After all, nobody should claim to have been caught off guard this time.
As the latest bout of flooding resulted in injury, the Government should convene an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the causes of both floods. Such a commission would be able to look into other possible causes of the disasters, compensation amounts and rectification measures.
Among the other possible causes, it might want to look at whether the system of managing flood waters was in order.
It also seems that the two floods occurred after relatively brief periods of rainfall. Drains should have been able to cope with that.
This pattern is very different from floods that occurred five to six years ago when it took many hours of rain before inundation occurred.
The bottom line is that Singaporeans deserve a credible explanation.
Lee Yew Moon
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